New Life in an Old Town
by Slvr
Summary: One year after the events of Red/Blue, the Radio representatives want to replace the Pokemon Tower.  The townsfolk are upset, but Mr. Fuji sees it another way...


**New Life into an Old Town**

"You wish to demolish a Pokémon *grave site* in order to build ***what***?"

Lavender Town was in a state of uproar during their town council meeting all because of a simple suggestion a man from Johto gave.

"A radio tower, gentlemen of the committee," the man said. That man was a representative of the Goldenrod City Radio Commission, and had been to several other cities and towns before coming to Lavender. "We wish to expand our services to the region of Kanto, to help broaden our listeners' views, as well as to help foster stronger relations-"

"Relations nothing," a man from the sitting audience said as he stood up in an obvious rage. "You wish to destroy a grave site for all of the Pokémon that have died in our arms! What makes you even *think* that we would let you consider the notion of tearing that place down?" The sitting audience nodded and spoke very clear agreement with the interrupting man.

"Sir, we would already be taking measures to remove the graves, with their gravestones intact, to a nearby location," the radio rep. replied. "We understand the rich history and nature of this town, an-"

A woman then stood to interrupt the radio rep. once more. "Then you should understand that you should not disturb the dead in this place!" she shouted out, clearly enraged.

"Ma'am, people of this council, people of this town," the rep. said, almost at a point of pleading, "all we wish is to provide stellar service to the people of Kanto, and to help harbor good relations between Johto and Kanto."

"Then go take your offer to Celadon, take the place of that god-awful casino they have there!" the man from before replied angrily as the crowd backed him. "Or offer it to Saffron, I'm sure they'd love to replace their Silph Co. headquarters!"

"Order, order people!" one of the council members bellowed out, slamming his gavel down to calm the crowd down. Once they had settled, he turned his attention to the representative before him. "Mr. Representative, it is clear to me that this town does not want you to remove the graves from our most sacred tower, much less demolish it to make way for a radio tower. However, as much as I wish it could be ended at that, it is not only up to us. Mr. Fuji, may we hear your thoughts on the matter?"

The councilman then turned his attention to the man sitting next to him, a bald, elderly-looking man who had his brow furrowed, presumably from all that he had been hearing. This man, named Mr. Fuji, then leaned into his microphone and spoke; "…I believe that you are speaking wisely, Mr. Representative, and I would be willing to consent to the destruction of Pokémon Tower to make way for a radio tower."

Upon hearing that, however, the crowd went into an absolute uproar. As the former councilman worked to calm the anger down, one man stood up and spoke, "Mr. Fuji, have you gone mad? You would be willing to consent to them demolishing the tower that houses our dead Pokémon? What would make you think like that?"

"Samuel," Mr. Fuji replied calmly, "how long has it been since you lost your Vulpix?"

The man, Samuel, then stopped to think, lowering his head a little. "Five months, Mr. Fuji," he responded in a solemn tone.

"And how have you been in these past few weeks?"

Samuel then thought for just a little bit longer before responding once more. "I…go to visit her grave once a week…other than that, I've been going through my routine as before."

"So you have moved on for the most part, yes?" Mr. Fuji surmised.

"Yes, sir," Samuel answered with a nod.

"Very good…Denise, it's been a couple of years since you lost your Oddish, is that correct?"

The woman from before then stood and nodded in confirmation to Mr. Fuji's question.

"And since then, you have not only obtained a new Oddish, but subsequently managed to get it to evolve into a Gloom, isn't that right?"

"Yes, that's right," Denise replied. "Of course, nothing could ever replace Oddy, but Cheery is just as excited to help with my garden, if not more so than Oddy."

"Meaning you have moved on as well," Mr. Fuji once again surmised before turning his eyes to the entire audience before him.

"Ladies and gentlemen of Lavender Town," he said, "it is no surprise that this town has seen decline over the past year since Team Rocket invaded the Pokémon Tower. People have been moving away to live happier, more fulfilling lives, and Trainers barely stay long enough to see what little sights we have, seeing as Saffron City is only a day or two away, with Celadon being barely a half a day longer of a trip.

"I understand how much the tower means to you. It is the grave to our best friends and partners. We've cared for them, they've cared for us, and they've left this mortal plane for the next, leaving us with broken hearts and weighted tears. However, for each loss each and every one of us have had, we've also learned to move on with our lives and find happiness once more…and I believe that this town as a whole needs to move on as well.

"Do not get me wrong, I am not saying that we should stop praying and showing respect for the dead Pokémon that we hold dear to us…but we can not go on living in the past and grieving over our deceased forever. It's about time for us to finally bring a more cheerful step into this dreary town, and the addition of a radio tower would be a wonderful first step in doing so."

Mr. Fuji leaned back a bit to let his message sink in with everyone…and as he thought, there was not a single voice of hearsay to be found. The entire building was silenced after that speech, everyone in deep contemplation of what was just said to them.

"Now that we have an understanding," Mr. Fuji resumed, a warm smile across his face, one that he always wore, "I state again: I would approve of the creation of a radio tower on one condition; when you re-bury the graves of our deceased, will you aid us in building a shrine for them in this town that connects to the grave site?"

The radio rep. nodded and leaned into his microphone. "Yes, Mr. Fuji, we would be glad to assist you in that endeavor."

After hearing this from the representative, the head councilman leaned forward to speak as well. "Glad to see we have that settled.

"All in favor of creating the radio tower?"

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Wow...been a while since I posted something something on here. Anyway, the whole reason for this story is to maybe shed a little light on why Lavender Town ended up opting to receive the radio tower to replace the Pokémon Tower. And it all sprung because a friend of mine thought that the Gen2 Lavender Town music sounded overly creepy for some reason or another. I thought it felt like they were making an attempt to move on while still remembering their past...'least, that's what the song says to me, anyway.

Either way, feel free to read, comment, and review~


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